App Store rules and macOS beta shift

Apple’s developer tools changed in two places this week: some App Store subscription setups are now failing review, and macOS 26.5 developer beta 2 shipped on April 13. (developer.apple.com) Apple’s current App Review page says the company reviews apps, app updates, in-app purchases, and in-app events submitted through App Store Connect, and says 90% of submissions are reviewed in less than 24 hours on average. Developers have separately reported new rejection patterns in App Store Connect around subscription offers and more automated review messages. (developer.apple.com) (x.com) The subscription rules at issue sit inside three different Apple offer systems. Introductory offers are for first-time periods and can be free trials, pay-up-front discounts, or pay-as-you-go discounts; promotional offers are for existing or previously subscribed customers; win-back offers target lapsed subscribers and can also appear on an app’s product page and in the app. (developer.apple.com 1) (developer.apple.com 2) (developer.apple.com 3) Apple’s own help pages still say introductory offers “automatically” appear on an app’s App Store product page for eligible users, while promotional offers can be accepted by customers who already used an introductory offer. The same documentation says developers can run up to 10 active promotional offers per subscription and up to 5 win-back offers per storefront, per subscription, at a time, with a maximum of 350 win-back offers per subscription. (developer.apple.com 1) (developer.apple.com 2) (developer.apple.com 3) That leaves developers in a narrow spot if review behavior is changing faster than the public documentation. A subscription paywall can depend on whether a user has seen, dismissed, or remains eligible for a discounted offer, and Apple’s pages tell developers to use receipt validation and StoreKit APIs to decide what to show. (developer.apple.com 1) (developer.apple.com 2) The beta release matters for the same teams because Apple is also changing the test environment. Apple says the macOS 26.5 SDK ships with Xcode 26.5, and the 26.5 release notes add new StoreKit subscription pricing tools, including a PricingTerms model for monthly plans with a 12-month commitment and a new billingPlanType purchase option. (developer.apple.com) (developer.apple.com) Apple’s macOS 26.5 release notes also list a StoreKitTest known issue: SKTestSession can fail to use the selected StoreKit configuration during unit tests on macOS 26.3 and 26.4, with Apple recommending a device-based workaround. For teams debugging subscription eligibility or offer presentation, that means the sandbox, unit tests, and live review can each behave a little differently. (developer.apple.com) On the Apple Intelligence side, Apple’s current macOS developer pages say macOS includes updates to Shortcuts, live translation, Genmoji, and Image Playground, and Apple’s Image Playground framework lets apps present a system interface that generates images from descriptive prompts. That is the companion-feature layer many developers test alongside subscription flows in beta builds, especially when a Mac app and an iPhone app share purchases. (developer.apple.com) (developer.apple.com) Apple has not publicly posted a matching App Store policy update on its guidelines page or App Review page as of April 14, 2026. Until it does, developers are left reconciling what Apple’s documentation says they can configure with what App Store Connect and review are actually allowing this week. (developer.apple.com) (developer.apple.com)